


Running in the Rub' al Khali

by Sharonfofaron



Category: Uncharted (Video Games)
Genre: Adventure, Eventual Smut, M/M, Romance, Sam drake x reader - Freeform, Samuel Drake x Reader, atlantis of the sands, djinn, iram, iram of the pillars, plot of uncharted 3, sam drake / reader - Freeform, samuel drake / reader, ubar
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-05
Updated: 2019-07-11
Packaged: 2019-08-16 17:09:12
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 11
Words: 16,278
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16499384
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sharonfofaron/pseuds/Sharonfofaron
Summary: You're a skittish teenage boy, made weary and lean by a world that's given you nothing but trouble--trouble, that is, and an exquisite set of eyes. There's only one person in the world you're interested in right now: Katherine Marlowe.And you're here to kill her.............But will Sam Drake and his friends get in the way?This focuses on the plot of Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception but may continue on after that! :) And there will probably be some sexy competition between Sam and Rafe for your affections; just sayin...





	1. Chapter 1

You could feel the rain trickling down all over your shoulders and neck, sliding down between your shoulder blades to the dip of your lower back and into your pants as you walked along the cobblestoned London street. It was absolutely pouring rain outside, out of nowhere, and you were drenched. There was so much water pouring over your face that you could barely even see; it was like your forehead had become a waterfall. If it had been colder rain, or a colder night, it would have felt miserable; instead, it actually felt kind of pleasant. 

The fact that you'd also had to dive into a nearby river to hide when the men you were tailing got suspicious might have had something to do with it, too. You'd stayed almost submerged, just your nose and eyes peeking out, and the cover of night had kept you from being spotted by the well-dressed 'civilians'.

'Civilians', you'd thought grimly. Like hell they were--

The warm yellow light and the half-broken sign were your signal to turn right, but you stopped short of the door. You couldn't come in soaked like THIS. Resigning yourself to hovering in the tiny outcropped doorway until you stopped dripping, you leaned against the wall. Now that you weren't in the downpour, you could feel yourself start shivering. 

It was a few minutes before the bartender glanced out a window at the right angle and noticed you. "Hey," the friendly-looking older man said, opening the door with a smile, "You don't have to worry about the water." 

Samuel Drake, Nathan Drake, Chloe Frazer, Charlie Cutter, and Victor Sullivan looked up from their booth as they saw someone being ushered in. "Come on in, kid. You must be freezing," the man said. "I'm Jameson. And I take it you want something warm." 

At this distance, all Sam could see was your muscles, outlined by your completely-soaked grey T-shirt as you were gratefully sitting down at the bar. You were well-built for a kid your age, he thought--and something made all five of them keep staring.

"Jesus," Chloe whispered suddenly "did you see his EYES?" 

The others all looked at her in confusion, but she was still watching curiously as Jameson came back over with some nice warm cheddar soup for you. He echoed her sentiments instantly, his head actually drawing back in shock before bending forward to look closer. "JE-sus, kid," he said, loud enough in the otherwise-empty restaurant for all of them to easily hear, "are those eyes REAL?!"

You were already hunching over your soup, relieved and hungry, but tensed immediately when he sounded so alarmed. Your shoulders sank back down and you shifted in your seat with a small sheepish laugh, doing the ever-familiar awkward dance of trying to avoid the questioner's gaze while still feeling them steadfastly trying to keep it. It was always weird to have your EYES be what people liked, because they really stared. "Yeah," you laughed quietly, ducking your head bashfully as you tried to focus on your soup. 

"Damn." Jameson shook his head. "That's some color. You get a lot of compliments on it?"

You looked up, REALLY just wanting to eat your soup--you'd lost count of how many days it had been since you'd had a full night's sleep or a full meal--but the man's face was so friendly, and he was being nice to let you come in soaked like this, so you smiled a tiny smile and answered. 

"More like just COMMENTS on it," you laughed ruefully before tucking back into the food. Jameson seemed to finally recognize the hunched posture and the way your arms were protectively circling your bowl, and shook his head in a self-reprimand. 

"Psh. Look at me, talking your ear off when you're clearly hungry. It's been a while, huh?" You looked up at him, your eyes startling him once again despite himself, and Jameson suddenly felt the urge to cower. He laughed a little nervously and backed up, dishrag in one hand as he held them up in surrender. "Whoop, look at me doing it again. I'll leave you alone."

You thought it would be rude to say 'thanks' for that, so you just gave him another tiny tiny smile and refocused on your food. Sam and his friends, for their part, had been blatantly staring-and-listening-while-certainly-pretending-NOT-to-be -- and Sam felt his heart jolt for a second when the bar's light's finally revealed a glint of your long-lashed eyes. 

They were (E/C)--no, such a strong intensely glowing (E/C) that they literally looked like they were sparkling and shimmering all the way from over here. Sam had never seen anything like it--and judging by Nate, Sully, and Charlie's fascinated expressions, neither had they. But you didn't give them a glance--even though the entire group really, really wanted you to--and steadfastly devoured your soup. 

"Poor kid's hungry," Sully muttered. 

"And soaked," Chloe added, surprisingly softly, eyes still on you like Sully's were. "He's going to get sick if he stays in those clothes." Sam and Nathan gave her a glance; Chloe could actually be extremely motherly and nurturing, when she wanted to be, and neither Drake brother knew if they should tease her about it or not.

A few minutes later, you'd finally eaten enough food to feel your body relaxing again, the warm liquid settling in your stomach and making you, for once, feel like you were in a really good mood. A less hunted and stressed-out kid would have recognized the sensation as a little thing called 'being full'.

Jameson came back over to take your bowl, already holding another one, and you took it gratefully with a bigger smile, actually feeling yourself open your mouth to start conversation for once--

But then you heard her car, parking in an alleyway down the street, and stilled. You heard the soft clack of her high heels, rearranging themselves on the car's carpet before exiting, and then the more solid steps as Talbot helped her out. You heard her murmur to him. "Let's make this quick." 

Sam and his friends, of course, couldn't hear any of this at such a distance; but you most certainly did, and you finished the new soup FAST, heart rate increasing at the stress. You couldn't be here like this right when she walked in, you COULDN'T--but you were so hungry--

"Whoa, where's the fire? Relax, kid, no one's takin' it away from you," Jameson said kindly, seeing your new haste. But you shook your head, mouth full as you pulled money out of your pocket (you never liked to be tied down by bags or belongings, so all your papers and money were stored in waterproof bags in the zippered linings of your pants) and put some--with a little extra--on the table. 

"That's too much--" Jameson said, still smiling while holding up a hand in protest, but your mouth was still full and you were shaking your head as you got off your seat. Sam's group watched you, curious by the sudden change in behavior and your obvious new tension.

Their curiosity only increased when they saw your glance at the front door--and your smooth movement to the BACK one instead. You swallowed the rest of your soup, feeling it slosh a little in your stomach since you'd eaten it too fast, and managed a "Thanks Jameson" before slipping out the door, ignoring the bartender's "Where are you going..?" that came behind you as you rushed out into the still-sopping night. 

"Shit, seems like that kid knows somethin' we don't," Sully grumbled, a little nervous all of a sudden.

"I was gonna offer him some drier clothes--" Jameson said, looking sad. But there was no time for a response--because only moments later, the door was kicked open. 

"Well, well, well," Talbot said with an elegant smirk, lowering his umbrella. "Fancy seeing you all here." 

"Enough with the false frivolities, Talbot," a stiff British voice said behind him, and Talbot grudgingly stepped aside for Katherine Marlowe to come through. Despite her age, her posh makeup, coiffed blonde hair, and sophisticated black coat gave her the attractiveness of a much younger woman. How old she actually WAS was anyone's guess, Sam figured--until he remembered that Sully had dated her back in the day. HE probably knew.

"Kate." Sully gave her a hostile nod. 

"Give us the ring, gentlemen," Marlowe said briskly, before nodding to Chloe "and lady." 

Chloe scoffed, still holding her beer, and Charlie glowered. "Not likely, love." 

Sam bumped Nathan with his arm, a subtle brotherly way of checking in, and Nate gave him the usual comforting glance back that meant he was ready to fight. 

Talbot drew his gun. "NOW."

He clearly hadn't meant the command as a combat instruction--but Nathan Drake and his friends most certainly took it as one. Chloe threw her beer to dishevel Talbot, as did Charlie, and the fight was on. 

"All right, assholes," Sam said, leaping into the barroom fray and sending a right-hook into the man that Nate was holding for him, "Let's do this." 

And all thoughts of the (E/C)-eyed kid were temporarily forgotten.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You'd only had to go around the corner of the next building to feel safe enough for listening--and when you heard mention of the ring, and the familiar sounds of punches, you groaned. SHIT, you thought, running a hand through your (H/C ) hair and pacing for a second in frustration, eyes practically venomous. SHIT. They're gonna wreck the whole thing--

"Y/N!" You jumped, your eyes glowing brighter for a second, and pivoted to see Nicodemus entering the alleyway. "You must be distracted if you didn't hear me coming," he said earnestly, eyes assessing you. You were still pacing, though, and only gave him a brief look to show your distress before continuing the movement, keenly listening. Nicodemus stepped closer, understanding what you were doing and shifting his focus to listen on his own. 

A few minutes later, it sounded like Jameson had somehow gotten away and like the fight was over--and like the strangers had gotten the upper hand. But then the tide changed again, and the gunshots punctured your enhanced hearing, making both you and Nicodemus wince and cover your ears at the pain, pulling your ability back in self-preservation. Tentatively, you both let your hearing expand further again, hearing no more guns...and after you'd heard Marlowe's car leave through the rain, it became apparent that a few of the men were dead.

Or not, you realized abruptly, you and Nicodemus exchanging an interested look as you listened in. It had been a fake; they'd duped Marlowe with squibs, switching those into the enemy's guns when they were distracted one-by-one during the fracas. No one had been genuinely shot, apparently, and no one was dead. Still eavesdropping, you and Nicodemus listened with rapt attention as the group headed after Marlowe. It seemed that they'd let her have the ring--a decoy ring, though--and were following her in order to find her base. 

"They don't know what she's after." Nicodemus said suddenly. "This was all a ploy to flush her out of her hole and lead them back to it, so they can learn more. And they still have the real ring. That's good, Y/N," he said, putting a hand on your shoulder and squeezing bracingly, shaking you a little. The older man reminded you of Jameson from minutes earlier; both had kind smiles, positive but tired eyes, and a real knack for sensing when you were troubled. 

"Jesus," he kept talking, looking you over "you're soaked. Come on, you'll get sick."

You were already shaking your head, even though you also saw that he was already gearing up to fight back. "No time. We have to follow them."

"WE don't." You scoffed and turned away in irritation, like an obstinate pet being grudgingly trained, and Nicodemus stubbornly moved his head to make eye contact unavoidable. His eyes were the same as yours, if a little more subdued in their radiance due to age, and you both kept tabs on the rapidly-leaving group in the back of your hearing, like listening to TV in the background. "Y/N," he said sternly, putting both hands on your upper arms and holding you in place, his slightly taller height being an advantage "I am going; YOU are leaving this place."

"What?" You looked at him incredulously, almost losing your faint grip on the strangers' travels as your focus were distracted. Nicodemus's face grew more serious. "Y/N," he said grimly, "I KNOW how much you want this." You scoffed again, jaw clenching, and tried to turn away but were pulled back by his grip "But these are NEW PLAYERS in the game, and we don't know anything about them, and I would MUCH rather they don't know about you unless they need to. GO to Madagascar like you've always wanted to. Live your life. If the time comes and I need you, I will CALL you." You both knew he didn't mean by phone. "Y/N," he said, face sad, "you're only fifteen. You should not be this TIRED at fifteen." 

You swallowed hard, eyes finally looking young and scared and your age, and Nicodemus pulled you into a hug. "You have been," he said, voice rough and shaky, "like a son to me. I love you, Y/N. PLEASE be careful. And let us hope to God that these strangers and I have it in us to stop the Order without you." 

"I love you too," you blurted, voice breaking and eyes wet. You couldn't help clutching him a little desperately. "Please don't leave me by myself," you said in a begging gasp, feeling a couple tears leave your lash line. "Please don't."

Nicodemus's face fell. "Y/N," he said slowly and carefully, clearly trying to get his own control back too as his tears fell "I hope that I don't see you again until this is at an end. And then, my boy," he pressed his forehead to yours with a sudden smile "we will both finally be at peace." 

He pushed you away suddenly, wrangling his emotions and regaining the control. "Now go!" he said urgently. "If you're needed, you'll be found. If not--" he smiled bigger, suddenly gripping you in one more quick hug "then be safe, Y/N, and be HAPPY."

You nodded, a few tears still falling, but Nicodemus didn't leave until you reluctantly rounded the bend, your tears melding into the raindrops that once again soaked your shoulders as you walked away from the one person you'd ever had.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you want to better visualize the eye-color I'm talking about (in MY mind, the reader's eyes are amber--as in, such a strong golden-brown glowing amber that they literally look just on the cusp of straight lion's or lemur's-eye ORANGE) then look at these images! They'll glow more like in the second one when a certain thing happens in the story.
> 
> https://www.ecosia.org/images?q=eyes+of+lemurs+orange#id=2246F8238AB94B2A737CD5C764198FA6F893F68F
> 
> https://farm6.static.flickr.com/5483/13996756719_4cefbc66a7_b.jpg
> 
> This is how I imagine the Reader, only with an even more intense shade of the eye color.
> 
> https://www.ecosia.org/images?q=stiles+stilinski#id=B0AE6E5B728A47A13F3952F52BA5179DCF708F8B


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a heads-up, this will most likely be slow-burn romance due to the reader's age. :)

"Who the hell are these guys?" Nathan Drake muttered as the four of them (with Chloe hidden away elsewhere as the getaway driver) traversed the underground tunnels and vents. They'd been pursuing Marlowe's car down here for half an hour now--after discovering a well-hidden secret entrance in her garage--and had just found some old rooms that were reminiscent of Victorian-era secret labs. The setting and the labs' weird elements were really starting to freak the group out. 

"I don't know, Nathan, but these people are unsettling-ly weird," Sam sighed. He stepped a little closer to be up front with Nathan, while Charlie and Sully hovered in back. "Shh!" Nathan suddenly said, gesturing for them to stay back as they neared the main underground library. This place was well-lit, Sam noticed grimly as he knelt down with his little brother. No doubt Marlowe was in there.

Another thirty minutes later, the boys had witnessed Marlowe's discovery of the ring's falsehood--as well as their death-defying trick--and she was back on the move. Fortunately, however, she'd left the decoding astrolabe that the boys needed behind--and far too few guards. Nate perused the journals and worked on solving its codes with the astrolabe while the others stood guard.

"Jesus, Nathan, you got a real knack for breaking things," Sam laughed affectionately; Nathan had just discovered that Sir Francis Drake's ship, The Golden Hind, was a major clue--and he'd subsequently climbed up to the statue of its figurehead, making it fall off the wall and smash into pieces.

In his typically good-natured way, Nathan just laughed in agreement as he took the hidden contents--a map--and started reading it on the central desk. "Yeah, I guess so."

There was silence for a moment as the others kept watch. 

"Holy shit," Nate suddenly gasped, making Sam glance at him from his post, gun still at the ready, and shuffle over. He tried to keep his focus on guarding, but Nathan's eyes were lit up like a Christmas tree. 

"Nathan, what is it?" he asked. 

"Let's just take everything and go," Sully said nervously. "We don't have time for this here Nate--"

"It's Ubar!" he said excitedly in response, sounding like a giddy little boy. "Iram of the Pillars," he amended, watching his friends' nonplussed expressions. "Atlantis of the Sands!" he tried. There was still no recognition in their eyes, but Sam shrugged with a smile. "Well, sounds fancy at least little brother," he chuckled. "But let's look at it LATER, aright?" 

"Yeah," Nate said, blinking and finally getting the urgency. "Yeah, okay. Grab the astrolabe and the journal."

Charlie did so--just in time for gunfire to break out.

"Get to cover!" Nate cried.

"SHIT, they're here--" 

"Yeah, thanks for the update Sullivan!" Sam snapped in the chaos. It was a flurry of gunshots and punches and races through the London train tunnels before they managed to make their escape in Chloe's truck--and by the time they made it back to the sparsely-furnished apartment, Sam was worn out.

"Whew," he flopped onto the couch "what a night. Just think, Nathan, you died and came back to life and started finding Uber of the Sands all in one day."

"It's UbAR not Uber," Nate protested. "Uber is a car thi--never mind. Here." He spread out the map and the journal entries on the table, the others huddling around it to look on. Nathan started his spiel--once again making Sam watch him proudly and imagine him as a professor--and finally got to the point. 

"The legend of this place crops up over and over again with different names: Iram of the Pillars, the City of Brass...but the story is always the same." He showed Sully an old journal entry from T. E. Lawrence. "A city of immeasurable wealth," Sully read, "destroyed by God for its arrogance...swallowed forever in the sands of the Rub' al Khali desert. Well," he added, leaning back "I like the 'immeasurable wealth' part anyway." 

"Me too." Sam lit a cigarette with a grin. 

"It's what Marlowe is after," Nathan said seriously. 

"Small problem," Sully replied through his cigar. "The Rub' al Khali desert-- six hundred miles across. Even the Bedouin go around the damn thing." 

"Yeah, mate," Charlie added, "We would die trying to find it in there."

"Well," Nate said positively, "then we find someone who knows the way."

"Wait," Chloe suddenly said, sitting up from the window ledge, "Nate, go back in those journal pages for me. I think I just saw--" 

Nate looked at her, confused, and started slowly flipping the pages back.

"There!" Chloe planted a finger on one page and lifted the book urgently, eyes fixed on it. "That...that symbol," she said, looking at the others. Sam looked down at it, standing up to come closer next to Sully and Cutter. It was a strangely elegant black-ink swoop, with two dots parallel to the inner part of the swoop's curve. "Look familiar to anyone else?"

They shook their heads, but Chloe was already talking rapidly, eyes wide. "That KID from earlier tonight, with the gorgeous eyes--he HAD this tattoo, I saw it on his wrist!" 

"What?" Nathan looked gobsmacked. "Are you sure?"

"YES!" Chloe said, looking still-shocked herself. "And Sully, you said yourself that it seemed like he knew something we didn't. He LEFT right before MARLOWE--"

"Holy shit," Sully said, sounding surprised. "He knew she was comin'..."

"But how?" Charlie asked. "You guys seriously think that skinny hungry kid was somehow INVOLVED in what we're doing here, that he was WAITING for us or for Marlowe or something and knew about it in advance?"

"Jesus," Sam said, his cigarette mid-air, "that's some plot-twist." 

There was a knock on the door then, soft but firm, and they froze. "Speaking of which. Who the hell...?" Sully murmured. Nate gestured for all of them to take fighting positions, hiding against the door with their guns, when there was a sound outside. 

"I am not with Marlowe. Please let me in." The voice was male, with a faint accent. Nate raised an eyebrow and shrugged before letting the guy in. He was a tan middle-aged man, slender but still in good shape--and it took less than a millisecond for the group to notice his eyes.

"Wait a minute," Nate said, shocked "you have the same color eyes as--"

"Never mind that," the man interrupted. "I'm Nicodemus. Marlowe is on her way. You need to go--"

There was some kind of blast in the stairwell, making the front door explode, and they were all knocked back off their feet. Except the older man: he staggered, but turned to face the now-started fire at the entrance. One hand went to his pocket as the group got back on their feet. 

"The window!" Sam said, "out the window--"

Charlie grabbed all the papers as Chloe shot it, breaking the glass, and they turned only to see that the man wasn't following. 

"Come on!" Nate reached out a hand for him, but the man shoved a scraggly piece of paper into it instead. "Give this to the boy--" he said over the fire. Another explosion sounded, making them flinch. "I will hold them back." 

"What? No! Come on!" Nate said, shocked. "There's still time to leave!" 

"No time! Talbot WILL catch up; you'll stand no chance! Find the (E/C)-eyed boy, he will help you!" Nicodemus said, brushing off Nate's hand again as he grimly turned back to the fire, eyes glowing bright. "This fight is for me."

Confused, Nathan only backed up towards the window when Sam started pulling him in that direction. They both froze for a second in shock, however, when they saw Talbot emerging through the flames, well-dressed still--and eyes glowing red.

"Hoooly SHIT--" Sam whispered over Nate's shoulders, both of their eyes and mouths wide. 

"GO!" Nicodemus commanded, his voice sounding stranger, more powerful--and something in it made them do as he said, awkwardly fumbling their way out the window onto the dark rooftops to join the others. 

It was while they were running that the explosion happened--a huge one that made them all look back.

And then Sam saw a small figure emerging, coming onto the roof--and he swore again in disbelief when he saw that it was Talbot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you want to better visualize the eye-color I'm talking about (in MY mind, the reader's eyes are amber--as in, such a strong golden-brown glowing amber that they literally look just on the cusp of straight lion's or lemur's-eye ORANGE) then look at these two images! They'll glow more like in the second one when a certain thing happens in the story.
> 
> https://www.ecosia.org/images?q=eyes+of+lemurs+orange#id=2246F8238AB94B2A737CD5C764198FA6F893F68F
> 
> https://farm6.static.flickr.com/5483/13996756719_4cefbc66a7_b.jpg
> 
> This is how I imagine the Reader, only with an even more intense shade of the eye color.
> 
> https://www.ecosia.org/images?q=stiles+stilinski#id=B0AE6E5B728A47A13F3952F52BA5179DCF708F8B


	3. Chapter 3

Four Months Later

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was a beautiful sunny day in Morafeno, Madagascar. You'd filled out a little bit in the past few months, making you still skinny, but your muscles more defined. You were still bad about properly eating and sleeping, though. Nicodemus had always been the one to bug you about that...

Wonder about his whereabouts and worry about his safety came back instantly at the memory, as usual. You blinked the thought away as you rode the waves, sitting astride your yellow surfboard among the other boys, your eyes glinting in the high-noon-light. He'd said to be happy, and you were trying...you WERE happy, genuinely, for the first time ever, and you were even relaxed--but the guilt was there and you often had to talk yourself down. 

A few other boys were surfing right now, with the rest of you calling out cheers and advice, but you stayed mostly silent as usual. Your good looks--mainly just your eyes, you'd thought, but your bone structure and even mouth and elegantly-muscled-surfer's body were actually factors too--and tendency to be affable and polite had made you an instant hit with the people of the town. Your knack for languages had, too, allowing you to make enough money to survive just by helping out the occasional non-Malagasy speaking tourist. 

Now, another boy called out to you from his board nearby. "Miely be ny onja, Y / N. Tahaka ny tokony hodiavintsika, eh?" (The waves are breaking too far out, Y/N. Looks like we should head in, eh?)

You nodded, saying "Azo antoka" (Sure) as you tilted your head in an indication that he could go first.

A few minutes later, you were back in from the water, wearing light gray sweatpants over your sleek surfing shorts and carrying your board, sneakers, simple dark-green shirt, and water bottle as you walked across the sand to a private corner of the beach near where the jungle began. You liked your solitude after a good surf, to just sit and lounge and listen to the waves. To, for once, not feel like you were being watched.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Meanwhile, Sam and the others-- excluding Charlie but including Elena, Nadine, and Rafe now--hung back near the entrance of the ramshackle 4 by 4 vendor's stall while Chloe talked to the man at the wooden counter. It had taken almost an hour to find somebody here in Morafeno who spoke English--a tourist-trap kind of place this was NOT--and Chloe was visibly relieved at the easy communication.

"We're looking for a teenage boy, he's got short kind of (H/C) hair," she gestured vaguely, "well-built but sort of skinny, and these eyes that are like... (fancy word for E/C)?" 

The man looked at her blankly, and she threw her hands up in exasperation. "The kid with the pretty eyes!" 

His eyes widened, and his head tilted back in recognition as he smiled. "Ahhhhh, you must mean Y/N." 

Sam and the others perked up at hearing the name. Huh, Sam thought, trying to remember what he could of your face. It suits him--

The man nodded towards the beach. "Loves the water, that one. A surfer-boy. He'll be down by the ocean."

"Thank you!" The group left after Chloe's excited farewell. "This kid has NOT made it easy," Nadine said, looking around as they started through the marketplace.

"Well, he doesn't exactly want to be found," Elena said logically next to her.

"Hey, Sully, look, lemurs!" Nate blurted happily, stopping to pet one. 

"I always forget about this stop-and-smell-the-roses side of Nathan until he's actually doing it," Sam said to Sully, both of them rolling their eyes at the younger guy's delay but smiling all the same. Nate was absolutely beaming. "Come say hi!" 

"No time, boy-o," Sully said affectionately. "Hell, I'll BUY you a lemur when we're through with this."

Nate reluctantly rejoined them. "You mean when we're through finding a teenager that can MAYBE help us MAYBE find a lost city in the middle of an impossible-to-navigate desert?" 

"Yes," Rafe grumbled from further back, uncomfortable in the crowd (Rafe did NOT like being touched) "that."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You had put on your T-shirt and sneakers, just standing up to go find some food after your sunbathing, and were taking a sip of your water casually as you surveyed the jungle and the water. This side of your beach was getting more crowded now, as it usually did at this siesta time, and you didn't particularly feel like company. 

Too bad company felt like you, you abruptly realized as you turned to see a group of people getting close. The activity on the beach--and, you had to admit, your general relaxation lately--had meant that you didn't purposely use your enhanced hearing all the time anymore. If you HAD been listening to everyone's conversations, you most definitely would've heard them coming--and had time to run, which is exactly what you FELT like doing. 

You recognized these people immediately, and tried to make your expression neutral not to show it--but your eyes glimmered, just for a second, in alarm. The group was large, with some people you did NOT recognize, but the ones from before most definitely noticed the stressed-out glimmer--and the dark-haired Indian woman held up her hands. 

"There's those eyes again. It's okay," she said lightly in an Australian accent, sounding friendly. "YOU" she pointed, and your head went back just a little as you stiffened, eyes tense even though she sounded a little like she was joking "have not been an easy find." 

You'd been keeping your hands in your pockets, but they were in there loosely--an obvious ready-for-anything stance. One of the unknown men, the short brunette one wearing black, stepped over to your left side and abruptly pulled a gun, keeping it down near your hips. You stared at him incredulously, and couldn't help raising an eyebrow at the over-the-top gesture. 

"Rafe!" the others all snapped, their exasperated unison actually sounding almost comical. 'Rafe' puffed up in response, looking defensive. "What?" he retorted. "Look at him! This kid's ready to run. And I," he met your gaze, his eyes narrow "am not letting him." 

You felt the heat in your chest, and firmly shoved it back down, giving him nothing but a lingering venomous glare before turning back to his friends. "I apologize," the woman said. "Rafe here is a bit of an ass."

Rafe scoffed. "Well SOMEONE has to be bad cop. You're welcome!"

"You just like pulling guns on people," Nate said testily--and Sam, recognizing his brother's tension, smoothly stepped in. "Everybody just-just calm down, aright." You met his gaze for a second, recognizing the conciliatory inflections, and Sam almost stopped in his tracks. Jesus, he thought, those really are some eyes he has on him.

"I'm Chloe Frazer," the woman said with a big smile, stepping a little closer and clearly trying to brush past the interdepartmental conflict. Shit, Sam thought, seeing your obvious tension, maybe we shouldn't have come as such a big group. There was no way this wasn't coming off like an ambush. "And we," Chloe continued, trying to deliberately speak brightly and lightly "need to see that" she gestured to your left wrist "tattoo." 

You faltered at that; there was no way you could just pretend not to know what they were talking about, was there...? Nicodemus had never been clear on what to do if the strangers showed up here, on how you were supposed to know if you could actually trust them...and they most definitely did NOT have Nicodemus on their side. If they did, he'd be--he'd be HERE--

"Lots of people have tattoos," you said quietly, gaze unwavering...but the rest of your face shifted a little, and Chloe didn't buy it. "Now, you already KNOW what's so special about that tattoo," she said knowingly, "and I KNOW you remember US." She gestured to the group behind her that you'd recognized. Your face stayed tense, but you didn't deny it. If only Nicodemus were here...

"You knew Marlowe was coming that night," the oldest man in the back suddenly said, his voice a strangely-endearing grumble. "How?" 

You still stayed silent, genuinely unsure how to respond. They still hadn't mentioned him--and you couldn't just ASK them if they'd seen him, not if he might be in hiding--

Seeing some doubt enter those intense (E/C) eyes, Sam suddenly had the urge to smack himself. "Shit, how could we forget? Give him the LETTER, Nathan!" 

The others all gave each other sheepish looks as Nate reddened and quickly pulled a piece of scrap paper from his pocket. "Someone named Nicodemus gave us this, told us to find you." 

"He could've given us a little more to go on than THAT," Rafe muttered vindictively in the letter's direction--but the others silenced him with serious looks. 

Your eyes DEFINITELY glowed more when they mentioned your surrogate father's name, but you were too interested to care and perked up as noticeably as a puppy seeing a biscuit. "You've seen him? Is he okay?" 

"Well, we--we don't know," Nate suddenly squirmed, looking uncomfortable. The others all avoided your gaze--which automatically made it sharpen. Your eyes glowed still brighter. "You don't KNOW?"

You weren't speaking loudly at all, but the group still subconsciously cowered. Even Rafe looked chastened; he wasn't one for being intimidated, but those eyes...

"He was with us," Sam suddenly continued, his own hazel eyes looking a little sympathetic, "but he made us run with the letter while he held back Talbot." 

Your eyes were practically pulsating with the glow now, even though the rest of your body was staying still, and Sam glanced away for a second before his gaze returned back. "We know Talbot made it out, but there was an explosion...but we kind of got the impression that Nicodemus was, y'know," he gestured towards you and your eyes awkwardly "...like you. And like Talbot, I guess, so we thought maybe he made it out, too..."

"So we don't actually KNOW that he's dead," Rafe summarized abruptly, "he might be fine--"

"And we can't READ the letter, and I mean some of us have literally broken codes for a LIVING--" Elena chimed in. 

Their nervous statements gave you the urge to roll your eyes, but all you did was tense your jaw for a second and reach out for the letter with your right hand. Chloe, feeling bold, took your left one and twisted it up to look at the symbol on your inner wrist; you glanced at her irritably but let the imposition slide, too distracted by the letter to resist. 

Your eyes flared up again as you read it. Nicodemus had scribbled this down quickly before going up to the Drakes' apartment; he knew Marlowe and Talbot were on the way, knew Talbot would be enraged enough to break Marlowe's protocol and actually let some powers out, knew that he'd have to put up a fight and knew that he would die...and now, the end of the letter had said, it was unfortunately up to you to help them. These treasure hunters aren't perfect, Nicodemus had written, but I believe they are good. Get them to Iram, Y/N. Help them stop the Order--and I think you'll find that they will help YOU, too, along the way.

It was hastily written, in the signature secret language that you'd made up to entertain the two of you as a kid--but it was his handwriting, and it was dimpled with raindrops. You took a bracing breath, looking out over the ocean and squinting for a second, eyes flashing brighter with pain. This was it, this was what Nicodemus had prepared you for--

Your eyes quickly sank back to a more normal--albeit still decidedly ABnormal--color, while the group watched with a mixture of sympathy, curiosity, and alarm. When Chloe saw your eyes looking a little more natural again, she spoke. 

"We really are sorry to bother you with this, kiddo," she said softly. You felt your chest clench, imagining what it had been like for him to die--to die WITHOUT you--and couldn't help a mouth twitch before abruptly looking at the oldest man. 

"You have a plane?"

Victor Sullivan looked surprised at the attention. "Yeah. How'd you know?" 

"You're Victor Sullivan. I hear you always have a plane." You were already moving, waving over another surfer-boy who spoke some English. 

"Hey, Y/N," the boy said cheerfully. "Hey," you said quickly, trying to get it over with "can you give my board to one of the new kids who doesn't have one?"

The boy stared at you, aghast. "You're...giving away...your BOARD?"

You nodded, barely looking at him. "Yeah, I have to leave."

"But we could just hold onto it for you until you're back--" the boy protested. 

"I--" you'd already been walking past him, with the group following close behind, but hesitated, eyes glimmering again for a second. "I'm probably not coming back."


	4. Chapter 4

Your feet thunked on the plane's floor as everybody trampled in, the hangar being only about fifteen minutes away. You'd tried not to meet the gazes of your friends as you'd left; there was no time for goodbyes. And with Nicodemus still being on your mind, a hug from someone would most definitely have made you cry. 

Rafe not-so-subtly followed right behind you until you were securely in the small plane's cabin first, clearly still treating this as a hostage-situation, and the blond woman you hadn't met yet scoffed. "Rafe, stop treating him like a prisoner! He's already HERE." 

"Why should I?" Rafe asked, gun put away but an eyebrow still raised as he sat down across from you and the plane door was closed. "Just hedging our bet. We have spent four months HUNTING him, after all. Don't particularly feel like losing him at this stage in the game."

"Rafe, it's a PLANE," Chloe said sarcastically. "Where the hell is he gonna go?"

"Don't give him ideas!"

Victor smoothly sat in the cockpit, getting his plane ready, while the women and the Drake brothers took up seats around you. You sat sideways to look out the window, face still serious and eyes tense. The plane lifted suddenly, and Chloe, who was directly to your left, put a hand on you to keep you stable as you jolted a little at the movement. 

"Up we go," the brown-haired and blue-eyed guy said cheerfully. You gave him a mildly friendly glance; you always appreciated a good optimist. Judging by the protective way the other guy was sitting next to him--also brown-haired, but hazel-eyed and with a few tattoos--you'd say they were related. Not wanting to be caught staring at everyone--especially since you'd learned early on that your eyes made your stare particularly intimidating, just by default--you turned your gaze back outside to the little window near your head, almost leaning your left cheek against the glass. 

"So," Chloe said as soon as the plane had leveled out, rearranging her position so that you couldn't ignore her "are you finally going to tell us exactly what you are? What ALL of you are?" 

You gave her a grudging glance before looking back out the window. "Djinn." 

There was silence for a moment. "Does he want a glass of gin first...?" Rafe murmured to Nadine, genuinely confused, but she whacked him in the arm. 

"Wait--" the cheerful guy said, sounding like a fascinated kid in class "DJINN? As in GENIES?"

You laughed ruefully and shook your head with a tiny smile. "Not exactly." 

"But that is what you're talkin' about, right," the hazel-eyed guy said, leaning forward with elbows on his knees. The younger guy mirrored his movement, solidifying your hunch that they were family. Brothers, probably. "Arabian supernatural creatures? Spirits? I mean maybe you don't grant WISHES, but--" his eyes widened, his voice starting to sound just as boyishly excited as his presumably-younger brother "wait--DO you...grant wishes?"

You let out another little laugh. "No. And I'm not--" you were surprised to hear yourself talking voluntarily, without them having to painfully draw each answer out--maybe you'd wanted someone to know about this more than you thought-- "I'm not, like," you gestured vaguely with your hands "secretly a thousand years old, or whatever. I'm normal, and this is just something on the side." 

"Like Spiderman." The happy guy looked at you like you were gold. You felt your mouth twitch in a genuine smile for a second before it faded. "Sure." 

"And Talbot and Nicodemus...are too?" You noticed that the blonde woman chose the present tense carefully, and felt that pang of heat again in your chest. She didn't know what you knew, clearly. 

You nodded, casually ruffling your own hair one-handed in a quick little childish gesture to focus your thoughts. You always did that; it made Nicodemus laugh. Sam watched with the others, surprised at the move; your face and body language were both so serious, so world-weary, that he'd forgotten for a minute about your age. You really were young...

"Talbot is...different. A djinn, but the opposite end of the spectrum. Nothing really but blood and hate--hence the red eyes." You glanced between them. "Did you see those?"

"Yeah," Sam answered quietly. 

"Wait," Chloe said, holding up a hand. "You say he's different--his eyes are definitely not always like that, but yours--yours are ALWAYS noticeably unique. What causes that?"

You sighed a little. "A djinn of Talbot's kind usually has bad intentions--so one particularly big skill is hiding it. He can completely hide what he is for as long as he wants to. But I'm--" you gestured at your face sheepishly. "I always look different from everybody else."

"And what side of the spectrum are YOU?"

You looked at the South-African woman, assessing her as you answered her question. "The good one. Nicodemus and I are Talbot's opposites--or at least" you shifted in your seat and swallowed, looking out the window again "we were." Sensing their silent confusion, you met the blonde woman's gaze. "Only a djinn can kill a djinn. That explosion you saw--that WAS Nicodemus." 

You turned to the window again. "That was him dying."

"I'm sorry," she said quietly. 

Your mouth twitched for a second in a sad little quiver. If it had been a happy movement, Sam would've thought it was cute. But you shrugged it off. "It was bound to happen sooner or later. Talbot is stronger than both of us." 

"You sound certain," Chloe said, sounding unexpectedly perceptive. "Is that why you look like you're going to your own funeral?"

You looked at her, letting your gaze actually stick, and she started to look sad. "That's just it," you said quietly. "I AM." With a sigh, you looked back out the window. There was quiet for a moment before you spoke again. "Talbot's been training for years in Marlowe's creepy secret labs. He has all the old texts, the instructions, the techniques...he's an expert at EMBRACING his power. Nicodemus and I...we only knew how to hide it. Of course he wasn't a match for him, and I won't be either." Your voice got a little higher at the end despite yourself, and you refused to make eye contact with anyone. That mouth twitch happened again, and Sam caught himself staring at it. 

"We won't let that happen," the blonde woman said firmly. You gave her a tiny, resigned smile. "Thanks for the effort--but you can't stop it. The two of us TOGETHER could've at least put up a decent fight, which is what we'd planned--but by myself, I..." you shifted in your seat again. "All I'll be able to do is hold him off long enough to buy you some time."

"You'd...PLANNED to fight Talbot?" Rafe asked, sounding more serious and sympathetic now. You gestured to the brothers sitting nearby. "Actually, we were just planning to kill Marlowe that night--hopefully when he wasn't around, subtly. But you guys kind of messed that up for us." 

"Sorry." The blue-eyed guy now looked contrite. You brushed it off. "Hey, you had no way of knowing."

"If we were all working together, we'd probably have found Iram by now. And--" Rafe swallowed the rest of his words, but you knew what he meant. And Nicodemus would still be alive. 

"Speaking of Iram," Chloe said smoothly, shifting the subject "how much do you know about it? I'm guessing more than we do."

You straightened a little more where you sat. "I know a lot about it. That's where I'm from." 

The others stared while Sullivan looked back from the cockpit. "You SURE you're not a thousand years old, kid? Because I hate to tell ya, but that city's more than a little ruined."

You laughed a little, an actual smile coming out, and Sam was surprised to feel his own smile start at the sight.

"Yeah, I got that, thanks." You leaned back against the wall further, settling in for the longer story. "You know what Marlowe's after?"

"No, actually," the cheery brunette guy said, giving his brother an eager look. "You do?" 

You nodded. "The rest of the djinn--they're all like Talbot. Evil side of the spectrum. And they're all contained in a vessel of brass, deep down in the well in Iram. It's poisoned the water there...they've been down there for hundreds and hundreds of years, contained. Marlowe wants to let them out."

"Jesus," the hazel-eyed guy said quietly. "A bunch of Talbots?"

"WORSE than Talbot. And she's stupid or arrogant enough to think she can control them..." You rubbed your forehead, another worn-out gesture belying your age. "Nico was the only one who managed to get out. It was a risky move, and he almost didn't make it--but he was the one good djinn in there, and when I was born within the brass, he saw another good one and thought we had a chance--"

"BORN in the brass?" Rafe's eyebrows went up. "What??"

"Time slows down in there, apparently," you explained. You had no memory of it, of course. "So my mother was pregnant when she was put IN there, and it took all those years and years for nine months to pass."

"Wait," the blonde woman said slowly, cautiously "but you said the vessel contained all-bad djinn..."

You shrugged. "They are. My parents. I mean, I don't remember them or anything--but the alignment of a djinn has nothing to do with heredity. It's just chance, or fate, or" you ruffled your hair again "...whatever...so when I was born, it was a complete gamble that I turned out 'good'. Nicodemus made the grab and made a run for it before they could kill me--"

"KILL you? Your PARENTS?" The South-African woman stared, aghast. 

"Jesus. Some family reunion THAT would be," Sullivan said from the front. He quickly glanced back, worried that he'd gone too far with the joke, but you actually laughed. "Yeah. I know, right? So, really" you gestured with your hands vaguely "I just grew up out in the desert for several years, in the ruins of Iram, with Nicodemus and with the help of the Bedouin. Nico was--" the past tense made your eyes flicker for a second "he was from ancient times just like the other captives were, so we weren't ready to leave Rub' al Khali and try to join the normal world for a long time. I mean, he was STILL completely psyched out by cell phones up until this year." You laughed a little at the memory, hands crossed casually now over your knees. These people were relaxing you, somehow...and it felt good to tell someone about your real life.

"I don't suppose you remember the exact location and coordinates of the lost city...?" Chloe asked brightly. You sighed. Shit, you thought. Nico had mentioned what to do here...but it was going to hurt. 

"Yes, actually," you said, sitting up to be upright on the edge of the seat and facing the center of the cabin "but it's not exactly a...CONVENTIONAL method for memory recovery. Do you have a map?"

The cheerful brunette took out an obviously-old and yellowed one. "Old is okay, right?" he asked with a smile. "Yeah," you nodded, "old is actually probably going to work much better. And who's got a knife?"

They glanced at each other as you unfolded the map. "Do you mean...like a SHARP knife?"

You nodded again, sighing in resignation. "Yes." 

"Is the map a palimpsest, with a secret layer to expose or--what are you doing now?" Chloe interrupted herself as you stood up, seeing the First Aid kit hanging nearby. "I'm gonna need this," you responded briskly, taking the knife that the older brunette brother reluctantly handed you. 

"Y/N...whyyyy do you need that...?" The blonde looked concerned--and the brunette guy looked about an inch away from taking it back. 

You sighed again and clenched your teeth. "It's fine, it's just--this is going to hurt." 

You shoved the knife into your inner left arm a little, wincing and letting out a murmur of pain. "NOPE!" Chloe blurted as the others all rushed to join in, yanking the knife away from you "NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE"

It was done, anyway, you thought, still wincing as you quickly and brusquely wrapped up the wound with gauze. Your blood had dripped onto the map, as intended--and the red rapidly started spreading out in veins like a web, exposing new locations and words on the weathered text.

"What the hell..." the South African woman muttered as they watched it expand. And there, towards the middle of the illustrated desert, emerged a small emblem of the city. 

"Tada," you said weakly, leaning back and fondling your arm by its wrist "Atlantis of the Sands."


	5. Chapter 5

"You SURE you're all right?" Chloe was still asking a few minutes later as the flight continued. With the destination set, everyone had settled in a little more with snacks and more comfortable positions. 

You blinked at the question, not understanding until you saw her looking at your arm. "Oh," you said, "yeah, it's fine thanks." 

"So...." she said, pointing to your arm again. "What IS the deal with the tattoo?"

You looked at her, feeling everyone's gaze again--then sighed. "It's...it's not ACTUALLY a tattoo. It's a symbol that's just always on my skin. It's a symbol of Iram. All djinn have it, even Talbot." 

"Really?" 

"Mhm." You nodded. 

"Hey, Y/N," the blonde--Elena, you'd now learned--was digging into a cooler. "Are you hungry?"

"No, I'm okay thanks," you said politely--but Sullivan was already turning around. "You should eat something, kid," he said over the plane's engine. "You looked hungry the last time we saw you." 

"I've actually eaten a little since then," you said, daring to make a small joke. 

"You do look better," the old man said "but you're still too skinny. That a djinn thing?" 

You shook your head. "No, I think it's a Y/N-thing." 

"Here." The older Drake brother--Samuel Drake, you knew now--suddenly came over and sat next to you. "We'll split this one," he said, holding up a sandwich. You looked at him for a second, considering, and Sam consciously fought to maintain the gaze. "Okay, sure," you said--distantly, you knew that you WERE hungry, since you'd been going to find food when they'd ambushed you. And besides, this guy seemed like he was on your level for some reason. You took half gratefully and quietly started nibbling in comfortable silence. 

"Hey, Victor," Sam said after a while, "you SURE I can't smoke in here?"

"YES Sam, GODDAMMIT--"

"I'm guessing djinn don't smoke or anything?" Nate--the younger, cheery Drake brother--asked jokingly as he walked by with his own food to sit next to Elena. Rafe and the other woman, Nadine, were eating in their own comically-solemn tea-party in the corner. 

You shook your head. "Not really. I mean--" you hesitated to bring this up, but went with it. You were going to be using your powers in front of them soon anyway "I could LIGHT your cigarette for you, but that's about it. Djinn don't really get up to much--" 

"Wait, WHAT?" Chloe exclaimed. "You have FIRE POWERS."

"Some, yeah. But like I said, Talbot is the one with the experience. I only have basic stuff--"

"Show us! Show us!" She bounced back over to sit next to you, getting in your face, and your head automatically backed up a little at the close contact. "Okay..." you snapped your fingers, lighting your index finger casually on fire. 

"Holy shit. That's so cool!" Sam's impressed swear next to you made you glance at him excitedly, just for a second, before you tried to tamp it down. This wouldn't be enough against Talbot, anyway, you thought--but Sam's grin and everyone's barefaced awe made up for it, at least for the moment.

"So how did you guys get involved against Marlowe, anyway--" you started to ask, but Chloe held up a hand to stop you. "No time for that! YOU HAVE FIRE POWERS!! Show us what else you can do!" 

The rest of the flight went on that way, with you showing them your most basic skills--simple manipulations of the four elements, as well as some force fields and energy balls that matched your eyes. It was good practice, and a HUGE confidence boost for you in the face of the coming fight--and Sam told himself that it was just your crazy-cool superpowers and not your striking good looks or laugh that made him keep staring at you along the way.


	6. Chapter 6

You shifted in your seat a few hours later, arms snuggled around yourself. You were finally sleeping, sitting upright against the plane's wall, your face still serious but somewhat peaceful as your chest rose in delicate lifts. Nate stepped around you, giving you a fond smile as he handed a beer to Sam and sat back down. Sam tugged his gaze away from you; it had just been him, Rafe, and a napping Elena for a few minutes, since the others had been up front talking with Sullivan, and he'd finally felt like he had free rein to stare. Those eyes of yours were closed, but he could see your fluttering lashes...

Rafe had been grudgingly staring, too, even though he would never admit it. The two boys had been engaging in a quiet game of stare-at-the-new-guy-without-getting-discovered with each other, and both were a little red as they gawked. If Elena had been awake, she would have thought it was hilarious seeing these two intense, strapping guys blushing and crushing on a sleeping surfer-boy. Sam looked a little happy in his staring, at least; Rafe's eyes were almost painfully narrowed, like he was desperately trying to figure Y/N out. 

"Cute kid," Nate remarked quietly as he sat down. 

"Cute?" Chloe scoffed in a whisper, smiling as she rejoined the group with a drink of her own. She rapped Rafe gently on the chest with a proffered beer, and he jolted straight defensively before taking it "He's BEAUTIFUL." 

All three boys looked at her now. "What about US?" Sam joked with a gasp, the mock offense a welcome distraction from his blush as he gestured towards Nathan and himself. "Yeah," Rafe chimed in, crossing his arms tightly over his pecs and trying to hide his own flush with a glower "but I think you meant ME."

"You boys are all right," Chloe said brightly as she sat down. Elena stirred next to her and sat up with a yawn. "Sorry, love," Chloe said politely, realizing she'd been a disturbance, but Elena waved it off with a gracious smile. "You boys ARE good-looking," Chloe continued affectionately, "handsome even. But," she gestured to you, still sleeping "THIS kid is just straight-up pretty." 

"How is pretty better?" Rafe grumbled with a surly pout, stubbornly refusing to look at you now. He couldn't find it in his voice to deny her statement, though, even if that tacit agreement made his hackles raise.

"How old do you think he is?" Sam asked deliberately-casually, immediately regretting it. He felt Nate's eyes on him, assessing a little too much. 

"I don't know, like...sixteen, maybe?" Chloe said thoughtfully, thankfully oblivious to the intent behind the question. 

The plane jolted a little then, the descent into Yemen causing turbulence, and Sully turned around from the cockpit. "Time to land, kids," he said cheerily. "Might get bumpy." 

"I think it already IS bumpy, Sully," Nate joked good-naturedly, but he leaned over and gently reached for your still-sleeping figure. Sam felt a tiny twinge of jealousy in his gut; HE wanted to touch you. The thought made his mind clamp down on it, shoving it aside. Fuck, he thought, maybe I just need a cigarette.

Nathan only lightly tapped you with a finger and a quiet, friendly "Hey", but you woke with a jolt, eyes flaring brighter for a second in alarm. "Easy! Easy, it's fine, we're just landing," Nate was quick to say, speaking in a happy, calming voice. You blinked at him, eyes automatically fading back to their 'normal' color, and visibly relaxed while the others watched. 

Nate was still leaning towards you, and you glanced down to see the drink in his hand. "Are you drinking...beer?" you asked, surprised as you shifted to sit up, feeling more awake. You didn't know what you'd dreamed about, but you knew you'd slept well--a rarity in your experience.

Nathan looked sheepish. "Yeah. We should probably be drinking water before the desert, right?" 

You considered him comically for a moment, the pause for effect making the others start to smile. "Uh, yeah," you said, the 'duh' in your voice obvious even as you tried to still sound polite. Nathan and his friends laughed, and shrugged.

"The way I see it," Chloe said from across the way, "we're just drinking to our possible deaths, right?" 

"That's positive," Rafe muttered, rolling his eyes. He still refused to look in your direction, as if you yourself were responsible for his blush. Stupid beautiful kid, he thought to himself vengefully. 

"Hey," Sam said, leaning forward with a cheerful groan as he prepared to stand "I'm with Chloe on this one. At least we'll go down with a little buzz--right, Nadine?" he said charmingly as the South African woman came back from the cockpit. It was apparent from her unchanging frown and his growing grin that Nadine was not a fan of Sam's 'little buzz'--and that Sam had no intention of stopping anytime soon. "Eh, she gets it," he said with a self-satisfied chuckle, brushing past her blithely. "Can I smoke yet, Victor?" 

"NO."

"We're already goin' DOWN, what's the big deal?"

"Shut up and let me concentrate."

"Ah, the joys of travel," Chloe sighed mockingly over the sound of their arguing. She caught your eye, making you laugh a little at the joke. Something twinged in you suddenly, a strange feeling...you abruptly got up and moved to the window, even as Nathan protested and reached out to catch your shirt. He started pulling you back, but not before you got a look out the window at the tan, golden sands emerging below.

You could smell it, feel it in the air, in your bones...

Home.


	8. Chapter 8

"Whoop, no you don't," Nathan said as you stood, immediately reaching out with one well-muscled arm and pulling you back by the hem of your shirt. "You gotta sit down while we're landing, Y/N." You resisted, just a little, eyes fixed on the view outside, and he tugged tighter. "Cooomme on," he said in an affectionately patronizing tone, smiling in a bemused way as his gently-unyielding might got the better of you and you were reluctantly pulled back towards his seat, feet skittering across the floor as the landing gear made the plane shake. Sam watched from where he sat near Victor, feeling that twinge of jealousy again, while Rafe still stubbornly refused to look.

"THERE you go," Nathan said triumphantly as his hands finally succeeded in pulling you all the way back down, your gaze still directed at the window. "You can stare at it all day, Y/N," he said with a comforting laugh. "I'm pretty sure we'll be out in it for a while." 

"When was the last time you were here?" Elena asked curiously. You were still looking out the window, focused almost entirely on that feeling, looking so much like a dog after a bone that she couldn't help but smile. Sam was abruptly reminded again of just how young you really were, but felt a smile on his own face all the same. 

Your eyes glowed brighter again, and Elena sounded a little nervous this time. "Y/N...?" The others turned to look, hearing her unease. You slowly moved your gaze over to her, the brightness fading a bit again, and blinked. "Sorry, what?"

"You okay?" Nate jostled you gently from where he sat in the next seat. You nodded blankly. "Y-yeah, just...been a while."

"Is that a djinn-thing?" Chloe asked. "Because your eyes just went full-superhero again, kiddo." 

You looked at her, taking a bracing breath as you tried refocusing, your mind still a little distracted. "Um, yeah, I--I dunno," you confessed, shrugging faintly. "Maybe..."

"Good or bad?" Nate asked, his voice a mix of both curiosity and concern, and you glanced at him thoughtfully before looking back at the window. "Neither. Just..." your eyes flared again as they fixated on what little you could see of the sky "home." 

"Brace yourselves," Sully called from the cockpit, and there was a series of loud bumps and rattles as the small plane taxied down onto an impromptu runway. Rafe clutched his own solitary seat, determined to keep his composure, while everyone else slammed back and forth into each other in their seats wincing. Nate held you with one arm, keeping you mostly upright since you were still zoning out. 

"Sully," Nadine shouted, voice rattling up and down in conjunction with the plane's bumps on each dune "this. is. NOT. a. runway!!"

"I GOT THAT NADINE!"

It was a full minute of bumps and rattles before the plane finally slowed, and Sully let out a big breath. "Whew." 

"You good?" You gave Nathan a little nod and a smile in response, making him relax and grin. "HaHA!" He laughed triumphantly, getting up to leave and patting Sullivan on the back. "You still got it, Sully." 

"Why, thank you," Sully said elegantly, pleased. He dusted off a cigar and prepared to hop off the plane. "NOW" he said to the glaring-Samuel "we can smoke." 

You stayed seated, hearing nothing but faint rumblings and whispers in your ears, the window looking like it was practically pulsating in your vision. The rumbling was the desert's winds, caressing you and calling to you from all sides...lovingly, welcoming--but there was something else, something underneath. It only took you a second to realize that it was the trapped djinns' voices, whispering...murmuring things. Alarmed, you forced your focus onto the embrace of the desert instead. It felt homey, warm...comfortable, like this was where you were supposed to be. Perhaps this was what it felt like to be high... 

Someone tapped you awkwardly. "Mhm," Rafe coughed. You blinked slowly, looking up at him, your gaze even more intense than usual, and Rafe's angry gruffness faltered. "I--you can get out now," he said quietly, looking down at the ground. He put his hands in his pockets, looking at you like a lost puppy, but when you didn't move his mouth fell back into a tight frown. 

"Oh, for fuck's sake," he swore to the ceiling, as if cursing his luck, and took a grumpy breath before taking your arm and manually lifting you up. You staggered, still too out of it to even really see him, so you missed the strong flush that was returning to Rafe's cheekbones as he held you. "Up. Up up up!" he said, voice sounding a little more concerned than frustrated now. "Okay, everybody else is already outside. Can you stand up by yourself?" he asked. He let go--reluctantly, although he'd die before admitting it--and you wavered in place, brightly-glowing eyes back on the window. "Jesus," he swore again, freaked out despite himself. "Okay--come on..." Rafe started leading you in an awkward walk, tensing up the closer he got you to the exit of the plane. He leaned outside, where the others were surveying the landscape and looking at the map while Sam and Sully smoked off to the side. 

"There seem to be two or three sets of ancient ruins," Nathan was saying, looking ahead with binoculars. 

"Well," Sully said, "Y/N'll be able to tell us which one is which--"

"Yeah, guys...?" they turned around to see Rafe peeking out of the plane, towing you along behind him grumpily and hoping they'd think his blush was the heat. He couldn't believe there were witnesses to him being caring of all things. "SPEAKING of the kid," he snapped "he's totally tripping."

"What?" Elena asked, confused. Chloe's face fell as she saw you behind Rafe. "Uh oh. Y/N? You okay...?" she stepped closer, helping a clearly-zoned-out-you down and speaking in a light, cautious voice. "Y/N..." she started speaking more firmly and snapping her fingers, seeing that you were completely looking past her, past all of them...it was like you were seeing the entire desert in infrareds, seeing the ruins up ahead and Iram down below and there, further off...

"Y/N. Hey. Come on, kiddo, you're startin' to freak us out here. Come on, Y/N, it's okay, come on, snap out of it--"

You blinked and shook your head, eyes dimming again, and the others sighed with relief. "Shit, that doesn't stop being freaky," Sully sighed. "Ya okay kid?"

You nodded faintly, breathing shallow breaths and still looking around. "F-fine, I'm fine," you said quietly. "There's..." you gestured vaguely, slightly bent over from the exertion "Iram is up ahead, but Marlowe's in the way. My friend Salim..." you gestured off to the right. "He's got scouts nearby, I'll call him and he can help us, maybe--maybe get us into the city before her."

"You saw all that?" Sam asked, eyebrows raised. You nodded, breathing heavily. "You okay...?" Chloe repeated, a hand on your back. "I'll be fine," you said carefully after swallowing, "I'll be fine. Just...heavy."

"What?" she looked confused, and you gestured vaguely for a second again, unsure how to explain. "It's like...being high or something, being here. I just," you breathed out again "I just gotta get used to it again." 

"Like dealing with underwater pressure, or altitude," Nate said brightly, nodding in understanding. You smiled at him gratefully. "Yeah. The rest of the world felt...light, or empty or something, and I'd gotten used to that instead." 

"Who is this...Salim?" Sully asked curiously. You waved off to the right. "He's a Bedouin, he's--"

"One of the ones who helped raise you," Nadine finished astutely. You nodded again. 

"Okay." Chloe clapped her hands together. "So how do we call him?" 

You felt Rafe shift in place next to you, surprisingly awkwardly. Little did you know he was struggling not to rub your back himself.

"You don't," you said reluctantly, straightening up fully. Rafe stepped back a little, still feeling the uncontrollable blush. Sam eyed his opponent abruptly over his cigarette, recognizing the blush's cause even though no one else did. 

"I do." You let your eyes rekindle a little nervously, knowing that it was risky to tap into the power again when you were already teetering on its edge. If you got too sucked into it, it might be days before you came back out. That was not time this group could afford, not with what Marlowe was after. 

"Whoa whoa whoa, eaaaasy, Y/N," Chloe said suddenly, seeing the light coming back in your eyes. "Maybe you shouldn't--"

"It's okay," you said slowly, looking to the right and gingerly raising a hand. Rafe backed further away "I've got it--"

A streak of (E/C) light shot out from your hand, making the others jump. It disappeared off to the south instantly. 

There was silence for a moment before Rafe quietly said "Now what?"

"Now," you sat down on the sand dune, eyes dimming again "we wait."


	9. Chapter 9

"All right then. So," Sam said cheerily, hastily moving to sit down next to you in the shade of the hull before Rafe could "if you can see all that stuff here, you think Talbot can?"

"Yeah," you sighed, leaning your head back against the warm side of the plane as the others settled in "probably." 

"Hey, speaking of questions," Nate said, carrying the food cooler out from the plane and sitting on top of it "if Talbot's blood can reveal the location just like yours can, why haven't he and Marlowe come here earlier and found the city?"

"I'm not actually sure that his blood CAN," you said thoughtfully. The heavy, heady sensation had become more of a lull now; your eyes were glowing in small ebbs and flows, but they were much fainter, and it didn't feel quite so strange to breathe. "It might have something to do with what he is--"

"you mean an evil goddamn piece of shit," Sully said sassily, making you laugh just a little. Sam watched you over his cigarette, smiling at seeing you amused, while Rafe glared. Stupid kid looking all cute, he thought. 

"Yeah," you said. "It might mean that he's, in a way, less in tune with his natural characteristics as a djinn. Or," you sighed. "or something. I can't really be certain until I meet him."

"You two haven't met yet?" Chloe asked incredulously. You shook your head. "No, Nico didn't want Talbot to know about me."

"So you're the secret weapon, then." Sam wiggled an eyebrow at you mischievously, and you laughed a little bashfully. "Yeah, I guess."

"And what about Marlowe?" Elena asked. "Is she a djinn--or, something...--too?"

You shook your head and gave her a surprisingly sardonic look. "No, she's human. She's just a bitch." 

That made the others crack up, and your mouth twitched in a proud smile as you looked down at the ground near your feet. Sam licked his lips in between laughs, partly to start re-smoking his cigarette--and partly as a subconscious move at the sight of you quietly giggling.

You felt a pulse in the ground then, thrumming underneath your butt and feet, and jumped. Sam noticed immediately, sitting up. "Ya okay?"

You straightened further, looking off to the right, eyes supernaturally bright again. "Salim is coming." 

"How did you know?" Rafe asked curiously despite himself. He quailed visibly when your glowing eyes met his, blushing more yet tightening his jaw obstinately. 

"He's not a djinn, but he knows ways to contact us. The Bedouin have some tricks of their own." You stood, and Sam and Rafe both instantly rose next to you, avoiding the others' gazes as they awkwardly realized what they'd done. 

"So much for a nap, right?" Sam joked, tapping your arm in a friendly little gesture of commiseration. He felt like he was finally getting used to your eyes again--sort of. You laughed a little, still distracted as you watched for your old friend. "Yeah. So much for that." 

"Is that...?" Nate murmured to himself, grabbing the binoculars and stepping up to look out in the same direction. 

"What?" Sam asked his brother. Nate's brow was furrowed. "It might be a sand storm..."

"SHIT," Sully swore--but you laughed again, making him look at you as you smiled. "It's not a storm," you said. "That IS Salim." Seeing their confused looks, you kept going. "He's on horseback," you explained, watching them relax. 

"Horses?" Chloe looked pleased. "I like horses." 

"Yeah," you grinned excitedly "me too."

A few minutes later, the shape of the horses was vaguely visible in the cloud of dust that they were creating--and when Salim, a bearded and purple-robed guy in his thirties, arrived with a swift dismount, you couldn't help starting forward for a tight hug. The three other Bedouin soldiers hung back, still on their sleek Arabian horses, with several saddled but un-ridden horses tied alongside. 

"Heyyyyy, Y/N," Salim said affectionately, obviously pleased to see you--and obviously sensing that something was wrong. "Hey." You smiled up at him wide, and Sam suddenly felt the urge to step in--but then the hug stopped, and he settled for just shifting in place. Nathan was right next to him, after all, and he'd notice instantly that something was up--especially since Sam figured that the younger Drake was on high alert after hearing him not-so-subtly ask about your age. Sam could be a perv, and Nathan knew it. 

"I take it there is trouble," Salim sighed, glancing at the group behind you. You nodded. "Nico's dead. Talbot," you added as an explanation. Salim's face fell. "I'm so sorry."

You kept talking, still determined not to cry. There was too much at stake for that right now. "He and Marlowe are here, which you probably already knew--" Salim nodded "so we need a way to get past them before they can get into Iram."

"Understood." Salim waved to his comrades, who gestured for you and your friends to grab some supplies and mount up. Chloe beamed as she and Nadine were guided towards palominos, their dished faces and high crests clear signs of their Arabian heritage. Sully and Elena took bays--neither of them particularly comfortable with it, even though the animal-loving Nathan kindly joined Elena on hers to ride double--while you and Sam ended up with chestnuts. Rafe grudgingly took a dappled-grey, a mare, jumping a little when she sniffed him. 

"Don't worry, Rafe," you said quietly, smiling down at him as he nervously stood near the saddle "these are good horses. She'll do most of the work." 

Rafe's hard, tense gaze softened a little, his blush returning from both embarrassment and an awww-warm-fuzzy factor that he refused to acknowledge. He swooped himself up into the saddle only a little clumsily, nearly passing out from fright when the mare shifted her hooves, but you forced yourself not to laugh and reached out a hand, holding the reins steadier for him as he sat up.

"Thanks," Rafe said, startling himself--and on your other side, Sam watched apprehensively, shifting quickly to a charming grin. "Hey, Y/N," he said a little louder with a smile, Rafe glowering again from behind you as Sam took your attention "look-no hands!" He held up his arms for a second, dropping the reins and spreading his arms out cockily.

You laughed. "Nice."

"We are ready then?" Salim asked, watching for your nod before setting off again at a canter that swiftly turned into a gallop. Sully ended up getting into the swing of things pretty quickly, actually, as did Chloe and Sam, while Rafe held his reins almost as tightly as Nathan was being held by a nervous Elena. You rode one-handed, your right hand loosely resting against your thigh as you rocked with the horse's movement, and grinned. It had been too long since you'd done this.

"Y'know," Sam called to you from where he galloped nearby, as the group swiftly streaked across the dunes of the desert "evil fanatics and supernatural-genie-monsters aside" he panted, grinning, "this is a pretty awesome trail ride."

"Yeah," you laughed, smile wide "it is."


	10. Chapter 10

The horses' hoofbeats became staggered as everyone neared the scouts' encampment, a small cluster of tents and supplies. You slipped off your horse easily with the Bedouins, dismounting and trotting with the chestnut a few yards even before it had stopped. You gave it a pat, dropping the reins for the horse to drink from a makeshift trough nearby. 

"Isn't your horse going to leave?" Elena asked, peeking out from behind Nate on one of the bays. Nate grinned, obviously finding her behavior adorable as she clutched him around his waist. "No," you said, a little breathless but happy all the same, eyes still flaring in waves and ebbs "they ground tie."

"What tie?" Rafe asked, the sentence coming out tensely despite his efforts to sound calm. The mare patiently slowed for him, standing still expectantly, and Rafe turned flustered again when he realized he was supposed to get off. 

"Okay, okay, off it is," he muttered angrily. You came over to his horse's side as the others caught up, some of the Bedouins holding their reins and helping them with dismounting. Chloe was beaming, and so was Sam, who quickly started heading your way when he saw you with Rafe.

"There you go," you said cheerfully, surprising yourself with how pleased you sounded. You really had missed this riding, and these deserts. And Salim had hardly changed a bit. 

"Good?" Sam asked, showing some self-restraint and deliberately not teasing Rafe. Rafe glanced at Sam from where he was dusting himself off, but quickly realized the question had been for you and went back to his grooming. 

"Good." You beamed at Sam as you responded, unable to help it, and his own smile widened. 

"Gotta say," Sully added from where he and the others were joining the group, "that was a nice ride." 

"You move well with the horses, Sully," Chloe said amiably, giving him a pat on the back. Sully chuckled. "Why, thank you Miss Frazer. I do love a good ride."

Sam snorted, but Nate butted him with his elbow as he walked by, making Sam douse the laugh just before you noticed. Rafe rolled his eyes, but still gave you a glance. 

"All right, Y/N," Salim said, speaking brusquely. "Marlowe and her men are there, to the northeast." He pointed, and you nodded, your eyes turning a brighter (E/C) again. "A light sandstorm is coming, which should provide you some cover. You'll have to get close if you're going to get through the chasm and cut ahead of her." 

Your eyes started glowing again as you nodded thoughtfully, surveying the land. "We've got about an hour till the storm hits," Salim said quietly, recognizing your zone-out but being comfortable enough with it to still speak. You nodded again, absorbing the information, and he turned to the others to speak at a normal volume.

"We have an hour before we go in. Take some time to eat and stretch your legs while we water the horses."

Sully lifted his cigar--then promptly headed over to one of the scouts, Kasim, seeing that he had something better to smoke. You heard them laughing a minute later as Sully pulled out his good old charm. 

Chloe instantly moved with you to help water the horses, while Elena crumbled to the desert floor to sit down with a light groan. Nathan sat next to her easily, laughing at her obvious discomfort. Rafe sidled over nearby and started perusing the maps with Nadine, wanting to collapse onto his sore ass too but too dignified to do it. 

"TELL me we do not have to do that again for a long time after this," she sighed with a tired smile. Nate bumped her side affectionately. "Definitely not! Hey, maybe when we get to Marlowe's guys we can get you in a 4 by 4 or an RPG-truck again as our backup. You're one hell of a driver."

"ExCUSE me?" Chloe shouted over a horse's back nearby, raising an eyebrow--but her height meant that she barely cleared its withers. 

Nate laughed. "You're a VERY good driver TOO, Chloe..."

"Hmph." She looked satisfied, and gave Elena a wink as the blond woman laughed, gratefully taking some beef jerky and dates as one of the scouts walked by and offered them to her. 

You were busy shifting one horse's girth, tightening it just a little, and Sam came over. 

"Uh oh," he said good-naturedly, cocking his head in mischief. "Did I break my horse?"

You laughed. "Nah," you tightened the girth further "but I noticed your feet's grip on the stirrups were lagging a little, which means they were down an inch too low." You shrugged with a smile, patting the horse's neck. "It's easy to fix."

"You were watching my feet, huh?" Sam raised an eyebrow and laughed--but you just gave him a surprised glance, visibly taken aback. The comment had sounded...flirty, or something, and you felt it throw you off. But maybe you'd just misinterpreted it...

Sam instantly saw something recede in your eyes a little, and backed off. Okay, he thought, he's a little gun-shy; no big deal. I can work with that. He gave you a sweet smile and lit a cigarette, petting the horse's other side as he started chatting lightly about horses in general and the first time he'd rode. 

You were a little too young and distracted to quite understand what Samuel Drake was doing--that he was TESTING you, to see what you were up for and see what level of flirting you'd take--but Rafe Adler most certainly understood, and Sam's boldness was enough to make him leave the map and come over.

"Hey," he said, sounding softer and less self-assured than Sam, and steadfastly looking only at you while he spoke, "what kind of horse is this?" He tried to casually pet his mare, the bluff falling through a little when she looked at him and he jumped. Sam bit back a laugh, since you weren't laughing, and watched out of the corner of his eye as Rafe tried to hold you with his gaze. 

"She's a dapple-grey," you said happily, petting the nose of the next horse before it drank. "This one's a bay, and those are chestnuts." 

"How can you tell?" Sam listened over his cigarette, interested in your answers despite Rafe's participation.

"See how his legs and mane have more black, and the one near Sam is all kind of red-brown even down to the legs?" Rafe nodded, while Sam patted his horse proudly as it if had done a good coloring-job. "Those are called their points. A bay has dark points, usually black. So there could be a horse the color of Sam's, but with dark points, so it would still technically be a bay." 

"What about that one, and that one?" Chloe asked from her horse nearby curiously. You looked over at two of the scouts' horses. "That one that's reddish, mixed with a lot of white hairs to make him look mottled? He's a roan. And the one that's kind of tan is a buckskin; yours is a palomino, which means he has more cream in his coat to make him look more yellow than tan. Plus the buckskin has the bay's black points, and palominos don't."

"Hey, the manes're different, too," Sam noticed, studying the horses. You grinned at him, and Sam felt his chest puff up with pride. "Yeah!"

You pointed to another tan, stockier horse near another scout. "That one's different, though; he's a dun."

"Sounds like an insult," Rafe muttered, and he went stock-still in surprise when you laughed. Sam's eyes narrowed a little at Rafe as you kept explaining. "Not DUD; dun! He has a dorsal stripe on his back, and a little striping on his legs; plus he's built differently. Duns are more in line with the primitive genes, from wild horses and the ancients. And Chloe, yours--the palomino--see how he has kind of a scooped-in dish face, and his neck has a higher crest bending upwards than the others?" She nodded. "Those are signs of a pure-blood Arabian. Most of these males are also stallions; Bedouins don't really go in for gelding, partly because they don't need to since Arabians are known for being even-tempered horses even when they're ungelded." 

"Cool." Chloe considered the horse, impressed, but Sam was looking at you. "You really know a lot of stuff about this, don't you?"

You shrugged, suddenly feeling bashful. "Eh, I really missed horses." 

"You ride very well." Rafe's compliment made you blink; he didn't sound nearly as grumpy. "Thanks." You sensed that this next comment might raise his hackles, and spoke tentatively. "Was that your first time horseback riding? You did well, too."

Rafe scoffed, turning red again and putting his hands in his pockets. He kicked the dust around his feet. "Well, I didn't fall off at least."

"That's literally all it takes for a first successful ride," you laughed--and Chloe and Sam both gave each other a look, biting their lips in an attempt to hold in laughs at the accidental innuendo-laced joke. Being equally pervy-minded, they'd been having a hard time with all this talk about 'riding'. 

"Y/N," Salim called from across the small camp "the storm is speeding up. We should leave now, before it really turns."

You nodded. "Okay. Time to mount back up," you added with a confident grin, excited again as you slid smoothly into the saddle. The others were already following suit--except for Sam, who was finishing his cigarette--and you leaned forward to hold Rafe's reins again for him. "Thanks," he said quietly, sounded just a tad more relaxed about the horse between his legs now--and maybe even a little bit...excited? you thought. 

Sam's voice got your attention again on your right as everyone turned their horses. "This really is fun, huh?"

You beamed down at him from your chestnut, exhilarated, and Sam nearly lost his grip on his cigarette. "Yeah!"

Salim beckoned to you up front, and you easily maneuvered your horse forward in a trot to join him. A reluctant Elena was already back on her horse with a still-very-amused Nathan, while one of the scouts passed out more ammo for weapons before heading forward. You didn't take anything, leaving the guns to the professionals; you had a few knives hidden in your boots and belt, but you figured you wouldn't need them. This was all about Talbot, after all, for you--and your good mood faded for a second as you realized that this might be your last ride. Just when you felt like you'd made some good friends...just when you'd gotten HOME--

Another scout handed out little bags of snacks as well as some shemaghs, thick desert scarfs to protect the head and neck from the storm. You were the only one that didn't need one, Sam noticed; must be a djinn thing.

"Y/N, you take point," Salim said, nodding forward--and Sam watched the two of you start off at a gallop, still recovering a little from being grinned at so brightly.

"You do realize he wasn't smiling at you like that 'cuz he LIKES you," Rafe muttered from his horse testily. "He's just in a good mood."

Sam laughed down at the ground for a second, as if it was sharing a joke. "Yeah, well," he said, smoothly finishing his cigarette and deliberately giving Rafe a cocky look from the side before mounting "he wasn't smilin' at YOU, Rafe, he was smilin' at me. And hell," he got into the saddle one-handed, smirking while Rafe glared "I'll take it."


	11. Chapter 11

Sam and the others squinted, the sandstorm's beginnings already enough to challenge their visibility--but you sat straight and tall, eyes wide open and assessing as the group paused on their horses to plan their advance. You could see the hazy outlines of figures--cars, trucks, people--and knew you'd found Marlowe. They were heading in; you'd gotten here just in time. 

"Salim," you said quickly, knowing that the sandstorm would cover your volume. Salim guided his horse closer; the others' mounts pranced nervously in the strong wind, and Elena was glued to a still-amused-Nathan like a gecko. 

"If we go around to the right, we can sneak past most of them--but there will still be at least three that we'll have to take down." 

Salim nodded his assent, but added a caveat. "Y/N, you need to split from us and go on ahead further." You looked at him, confused for a second, then grimly realized what he meant right before he explained. "Talbot is your real focus here, Y/N; it's crucial that YOU get to him and stop HIM first. Otherwise they" he gestured to the group "can go no further and this is all futile."

You nodded, but Sam Drake could see through the haze that your face had fallen a little. You'd been genuinely enjoying being with these people...and just now, grouped together looking down on some enemies, you'd...you'd felt like you were kind of on a team. And you'd loved that feeling. 

You started off, guiding your horse with a soft squeeze of your thighs, hearing Salim's "Please be careful, Y/N" as a farewell before he turned to the others. Salim had realized that this might be his last time talking to you--and Sam did with a jolt, and leaned forward on his horse, suddenly anxious to call out--but you were already off. Rafe stared at the spot where you'd just been, realizing exactly what the others had realized: you really might not be coming back. 

But then the sandstorm thickened, and they had to get moving; it didn't take long for Nathan and Sam to dispatch the few soldiers that were on the outskirts as the group snuck by--and Sam might have hit them a little harder than necessary, now that he was worried about you. 

Twenty minutes later, the group had made it out of the sandstorm and far enough away that they could stop for a few minutes. Removing the headscarves, Sam and the others dismounted and shook their clothes in an effort to remove all the sand.

"Pah." Rafe spit out some more sand. "Disgusting stuff." 

"How did you get so much in your mouth?" Nate laughed. Rafe glared at him. "Shut up, Nate." 

In reality, he'd been so distracted by the worry about YOU that he'd forgotten to keep his scarf secure over his face. 

You weren't far from Sam's mind either--so much so that he skipped teasing Rafe. "So where's Y/N now?" he asked, trying and failing to sound casual. 

"He's heading forward to head off Talbot."

"Alone?" Now Chloe looked concerned, too. 

Salim sighed. "Yes. That is--" his gaze sharpened a little "why you NEEDED him, right? To be fodder for Talbot, to be nothing more than a vulnerable distraction so that you can focus on Marlowe and Iram?"

The guilty group was quiet; he wasn't really wrong. 

Nathan glanced at his brother, seeing Sam pale. "Let's try to catch up with him," he said quickly. 

Salim raised an eyebrow. "You can do nothing against a djinn." 

"Yeah, but--" Nate shrugged, already mounting up. "We should still be there. We're the ones who brought him here, like you said. And if he's gonna..." he didn't say 'die', but Sam felt his breath catch anyway "...well, he just shouldn't have to be alone."

Rafe and Sam were on their horses before Salim had even nodded, and soon they were off again. 

Meanwhile, you had just entered Iram. The ancient city was still as you'd left it...beautiful, pristine, and absolutely empty. 

Or...almost empty, you realized, your entire body and senses sharpening onto one point. You could practically feel your (E/C) eyes flare. He was here.

And as Sam raced towards the city on his horse, sweeping across sand dunes like lightning with the others, he remembered the Nicodemus explosion and realized more and more just what kind of danger they'd put you in--and he felt his panic rise.


	12. Chapter 12

You stood as still as stone at the entrance to the city, all of your senses honed in to locate Talbot. You KNEW he was here...but where? Slowly turning, you let your gaze travel across the elegant blue and golden mosaics of the initial courtyard and the buildings in the center of town, enabling your enhanced infrared vision to better find him. 

There. You could see his hazy form. Talbot obviously didn't know you were coming, you thought, relaxing a little with that knowledge. Much better odds for you. Perhaps you could even sneak up on him before he realized what you were--

*BOOM* A distant thump of a suppressed explosion sounded, and your eyes faded back to your normal color as you stopped assessing the area. Talbot had found a way into the depths of the city; he was going to the well, and obviously he was using his powers to take some explosive shortcuts. That explosion and a faint tan dust cloud from the building near Talbot were the only clues; otherwise, the rest of the city was intact. You were a good distance from him still; you'd need to hurry to catch up. But if he kept blowing holes in buildings to get to the well's underground base, at least the trail wouldn't be hard to follow.

The scattering of some pebbles from behind you was a small sound, but it made you turn, your eyes flaring back into their supernatural (E/C) hue. Sam and Rafe froze in place and held up their hands. "It's us!" they whispered, as if Talbot was right nearby and would hear them. You didn't blame them; the powers of djinns were limited, but the variety in powers wasn't. Talbot could certainly have abilities that you didn't know about, including enhanced hearing. Maybe he even had premonitions and knew you were coming--but if THAT were the case, you realized, you'd be screwed.

Your eyes calmed down, but only a little. The others caught up to Sam and Rafe, smiling in relief to see you before surveying the city. Nate whistled low. "Nice place. Little too crowded for my taste, though," he joked. Sam and Rafe kept their eyes on you. "Y'all right?" Sam asked, sounding more concerned than expected. Surprise from his tone made your eyes settle down even more. "Yes," you answered after a moment. He and Rafe were both looking at you kind of funny...Sam attentive, Rafe somehow happy and mad simultaneously. (Actually, Rafe was torn between being relieved that you were safe, paranoid about his worry being detected by the others, and mad that Sam stole his line.) "Any idea where Talbot is?" Sully asked, observing the city with trepidation. 

You nodded, pointing to the little dust cloud. "He's in there. He blew a hole in that building, presumably to get down to the underground well entrance."

"Why is the well underground?" Nadine asked curiously, untying the shemagh around her neck and shaking it free of sand. 

"They must have sealed the entrance to it when they realized it was toxic water from the djinns' prison," Elena mused. You nodded, smiling at her. She'd caught on quick, and with Talbot on the move and Marlowe close behind, there wasn't much time for extrapolating.

"Following a powerful demon underground," Chloe said cheerfully. "Sounds like my kind of day."

"Djinn, not demon," Nate corrected brightly. Chloe ignored him, starting forward.

"Why are you guys here?" You asked as everyone started walking further into the city. Sam blinked, looking taken aback as he walked beside you--the result of a subtle pushing and shoving contest with Rafe that you hadn't seen. "We were worried," he said plaintively, "and we thought we could, y'know, help."

"But...Marlowe," you said, the concept of their concern and the unfamiliar look in Sam's eyes--a WARM look, somehow--throwing you off and ending your sentence. "I thought I was taking Talbot and you were all dealing with her and her men." 

Sam shrugged. "Well, Salim pointed out that if you succeed in stopping Talbot, it kind of nips Marlowe's mission in the bud," he explained. "If there's no Talbot to make mincemeat out of all of us, we'll actually be able to put up a fight. Hold Marlowe off and kill her troops."

"AND if Marlowe does get the chance to let all the djinn out, she might hesitate more since she won't have Talbot to help control them. It's a solid plan," Rafe piped in from right behind you, eager to at least get SOME of your attention. You couldn't really argue with their logic--although you did wonder exactly how these human friends of yours were going to help against a strong evil djinn. 

Your thoughts were interrupted moments later by an exclamation from Sully. "Nate, DON'T drink the--well, shit." 

You looked up ahead, seeing Nathan crumpling beside a nearby fountain, and started running forward, hearing Sully yell "what part of toxic water didn't you understand, Nathan?!" He bopped Nate on the head, but Nate didn't notice as he closed his eyes and his breath came in heaves.

"Is he okay?" Sam asked frantically, going to his brother. "You mean besides having the memory of a GNAT?" Sully said, the angry comment going straight toward Nathan. "F-forgot..." Nate murmured faintly. 

"Y/N JUST told us about the poisonous water on the plane ride OVER here, Nate!" Elena added, her voice despairing and exasperated as she knelt with her husband. "Is he gonna be okay??" Sam asked you, kneeling with Nathan too, eyes nervous.

"Yes," you said with a sigh, watching the trio relax. This was going to be an unfortunate delay. "But he's going to hallucinate--"

Suddenly, a flare in your senses told you that Talbot was near again--no doubt having heard Sullivan yelling--and the water in the fountain surged, soaking you all. The surprise attack ended, Talbot gone again--but as you felt the water in your mouth and saw everyone else soaked, you sighed louder and amended your sentence. "Actually, we ALL will."


End file.
